Warm Milk And Lady Chats
by flyin'rabbit
Summary: Every night, Kurt brings Finn his warm milk and sometimes, they even have a nice, brotherly 'lady chat'.
1. The Sue Sylvester shuffle

**A/N**: Okay, so I know I should be continuing at least one of my multiple WIPs, but this just popped into my head. I just watched the Superbowl episode and couldn't stop grinning all the way through. I loved all the tiny bits of information there as well - like how Kurt still lives at home (which makes me wonder, why didn't he talk to Finn in between the wedding and Sectionals? And why would Finn want to drive to Dalton so Karofsky could apologise to Kurt, if he's going to be home that night anyway?)...  
Anyway, this is what I came up with, and hopefully you'll enjoy it! Please let me know your thoughts at the end :)

**Disclaimer**: No, I don't own Glee. I wish.

* * *

"No really, how _do_ you do it?"

Kurt merely shrugged. "I really don't see the problem. As long as I can pay for the gas and keep up with my school work – what's the big deal?"

Warbler practice had just ended and Kurt was making his way to the Dalton parking lot, ready for another one-and-a-half to two hour drive back home. As always, Blaine accompanied him to the front doors.

"Don't you think it would be far less time consuming if you just boarded here?" he asked, and Kurt shrugged.

"It would," he admitted. "There's no denying that. But – I don't think I could, you know? I'd miss everyone far too much – my dad, and Carole, and Finn, and my friends, even though I don't even see them _that_ often…"

Blaine offered him a small smile. "You could still see them in the weekends?"

Now, Kurt shook his head resolutely. "No. I mean, of course I could. But as long as the costs for boarding here are higher than the gas bills, I'm fine with driving here and back to Lima every day. It's not that bad, honestly. I have three or four hours a day, just to practise my singing."

"Like you'd need to," Blaine told him, grinning slightly.

"You're right," Kurt said airily. "And who would bring Finn his glass of warm milk every night and make sure my dad's food is healthy if I weren't there?"

"True," Blaine replied, now allowing himself to snort a little. "Where would they be without you?"

Kurt hit him playfully on the arm. "Oh, shut up, you." Then, in a slightly more serious voice, he added, "You're still coming along for the big game this weekend – you know, if they don't forfeit? Carole wanted to know if she should get some extra stuff from the grocery store."

Blaine pretended to be shocked for a second before answering. "Of course I am. I wouldn't miss it for the world – a football game _and_ a free opportunity to spy on the competition? I can't wait to see it."

"I bet you can't," Kurt retorted. "Anyway, I'll see you tomorrow, then?"

"I don't see why not." With that, and a small wave, Blaine went back inside, and Kurt walked over to his car, humming to himself.

**O**

Later that night, after Kurt had almost finished his own nightly routine, he went to the kitchen to warm some milk for Finn and himself. He had, by now, given up his efforts to get his father and Carole to join them in their milk drinking routine, but that didn't mean that he didn't hope they would come around. Tonight, however, did not appear to be the time for that.

So he warmed the milk, poured it in two glasses and walked back upstairs. It had taken him some time getting used to, but after having lived in the new house for over two months, he didn't automatically walk down to the basement anymore. Knowing better than to expect what he'd dubbed a 'lady chat' with his stepbrother, Kurt briefly considered just knocking on Finn's door and leaving the milk there.

"Kurt, hey." Well, that plan wasn't going to make it, since Finn had actually left his door open this time and had already seen him coming.

"Hey, Finn," he replied. "I've got your milk." Contrary to what their parents, Rachel, Mercedes, and even Blaine might think, Finn seemed to honestly like his warm milk before bed, and Kurt was more than happy to get him some every evening. Even if Finn didn't want to talk about, well, anything to him, that didn't mean he didn't appreciate anything Kurt did. Or so he liked to think, at least.

"Thanks, bro," Finn said happily. He seemed to hesitate for a moment, and then he added, "Want to come in for a minute?"

Raising his eyebrows expectantly, Kurt didn't need to be told twice. "Sure, Finn. What's wrong?"

"Everything's pretty great, actually," Finn replied with a small smile. "We didn't think we'd be able to play the big game this weekend – I'll tell you that some other time – but now we can!"

"Don't worry," Kurt told him, sitting down on a stray chair in Finn's room, "the girls filled me in about it all a few days ago. You really need to tell me these things, Finn. You know I miss all the drama that goes on at McKinley."

Finn chuckled for a moment. "Of course they did. Uh – I'll try. But anyway, we can play."

"Yeah, why?" Kurt asked, curious. "How come? Last thing I heard, all the non-Glee guys quit the team…"

Finn grinned at him, looking a little too smug. "They did - and they're still not back. But… the girls joined the team, just so we'll have enough players on the field! Isn't that awesome?"

"The girls joined… so there would be enough players?" Kurt repeated slowly. Slowly, he allowed a grin to take over his face. He couldn't believe that Rachel and Mercedes had actually given Blaine's words a thought, and now this! "That's great, Finn! Won't they get hurt, though?"

"They're going to be on the field, but they won't be playing," Finn explained. "They're going to lie down – well, Lauren said she wouldn't, but I bet she could take on two football players on her own so I don't mind much – and we're going to play. I wonder where they got that idea, though."

Kurt wondered if he maybe shouldn't tell Finn, but then he figured it was only fair. Right? "Blaine's a football fan. He may have given Rachel and Mercedes some ideas when we went for coffee with them earlier this week."

At first, Finn just seemed confused. "But – " he stammered, "Blaine? Isn't he gay? I mean – "

"Not all gay guys are like me, Finn," Kurt reminded him, adding a much-practised eye roll for the effect. _Just look at Karofsky_, he mentally added, and shuddered. Luckily, Finn didn't notice.

"Right, of course. Sorry," Finn said hastily. "Okay, so I should really thank him when I see him next. He's coming to the game, right?" Kurt just nodded. "Man, I'm so glad we can play, even if half the team consists of girls who know next to nothing about football." He shrugged. "It's not much, but at least it's something."

Kurt nodded again. "At least you're not giving up."

"In true New Directions spirit," Finn added, and Kurt couldn't agree more.

* * *

**A/N**: So, what do you think? I know it was fairly random, but... hopefully you still liked it. If you have any comments or thoughts or anything else (good, or bad, or whatever), please leave me a review! :)


	2. Blame it on the alcohol

**A/N**: So, I decided to continue this - kind of. It's probably going to be a collection of sorts about Furt conversations about what happens on the show :P (not necessarily involving warm milk, though, like the next chapter) They may or may not be in chronological order, and this takes place after the end of BIOTA. Hopefully you'll enjoy it! :)

* * *

A knock on Finn's bedroom door signalled the arrival of his stepbrother, once more at 8:30 PM sharp. And with him came, of course, two mugs of warm milk.

"Thanks, Kurt," Finn said, taking one of the mugs in his own hands. He wasn't necessarily a big fan of milk, but it was nice, every once in a while. Apparently, Kurt had seen this as a sign to bring him some every single night. Except that time when he'd had a sleepover with Mercedes and Rachel. Finn hadn't been able to sleep very well that night – not that he'd ever admit that to Kurt or anything.

"Hey, Finn?" He looked up, not really knowing what Kurt needed. They would talk sometimes, yes, but it wasn't a normal thing to happen. "Do you know what Rachel could've meant when she told me she had to go… compose?"

For a second, Finn froze, and he hoped that Kurt hadn't noticed. He and Mercedes (and after that, the rest of New Directions as well) had somehow come to the agreement not to let Kurt in on the whole original songs thing they were planning for Regionals. Though he could probably keep a secret, it was still somewhat unsettling to have their competition know exactly what they were up to.

"No," he replied in the end. "No, I have no idea, Kurt. But – you never know what Rachel's planning, right?"

"Right," Kurt echoed, a strange look crossing his face. "No, you're right. Rachel's completely… unpredictable." He was positively frowning by now, which alarmed Finn somewhat.

"When did she tell you that?" he asked as casually as possible. "What did she say she was going to compose… about?" Now, Finn frowned for half a second before letting it go.

"This afternoon," Kurt responded, sitting down at the edge of Finn's bed. He stared down at his mug. "She – uh… you know what, you probably don't want to hear this."

"I'll probably hear about it anyway," Finn reminded him. "It's not like Rachel can keep something a secret for long, right?"

"I suppose you're right," Kurt muttered, which was a first. "She thought it was amazing how she just got out of a relationship with a guy who turned out to be gay. You know, I think normal girls wouldn't be so happy about something like that…"

"Rachel was in a relationship?" This was new for Finn. "When? With who? Why didn't I know?"

"I'm not even sure if it was a relationship," Kurt muttered. "I mean, they went on one date, kissed twice, and that in the span of – less than a week."

Either Finn was exceptionally clueless tonight, or there really was no one his brain could come up with as a probable candidate to be Rachel's boyfriend. "And it's over already?" he asked in the end.

"Well, yes," Kurt told him with an odd look on his face. "Fortunately."

"You didn't like him much?" Finn guessed, hoping that that was it. At least he could have a reason to not like Rachel's potential ex-boyfriend as well, then. It didn't need to have anything to do with the fact that he hadn't realised that Rachel might move on too.

"Oh, on the contrary," Kurt sighed. "I'm actually in love with him. It's Rachel I don't like too much these days. Again."

Finn stared at him for a moment. "Blaine?" he asked incredulously. Well, it was the only explanation. "Rachel dated Blaine? Your best friend, the lead singer of the Warblers, Blaine?"

"How many Blaines do you know, Finn?" Kurt asked, but Finn was glad to see a hint of a smile on his stepbrother's face now. "Yes, that Blaine. After Saturday, he was convinced that he had feelings for Rachel that weren't alcohol induced."

"But they were – well, because of the alcohol?" Finn asked, and Kurt nodded. "Well, I'm happy for you, man. Is that why you haven't been hanging out as much these past few days? Because he was too busy with Rachel?"

Kurt shook his head. "I think they only went on one date. That's still one date too much if you ask me, though. Blaine and I – we had a fight. Things were said, and – we haven't talked since."

"But you'll work it out, right?" Finn asked, somewhat concerned. Blaine was the only Dalton student he knew, and he wasn't sure who would keep an eye on Kurt if Blaine wasn't around.

"I guess," Kurt answered vaguely. "We'll need to talk it through. I just wasn't feeling up to it today. Maybe tomorrow." As Finn frowned at him, he smiled a little. "Don't worry, I'm not fully dependent on him or anything. There are other people around at Dalton I can hang out with."

"It's just not the same," Finn said, wondering if he had always been this wise.

"No, it's not. It's just nice to know that I don't have to beg for him to take me back as his friend because no one else will have me."

"If that ever happens, just let me know," Finn told him, suddenly more serious. "I'll get Puck and the other guys to come with me to Dalton and we'll help you out."

"Thanks, Finn, but I don't think that's necessary," Kurt said. "I can stand up for myself, you know."

"I know," Finn replied, "but that doesn't mean we have to act on it."

Kurt rolled his eyes, but he seemed a little happier now. "That's true."

"Did you hear about that assembly we had to perform at?" Finn asked after a minute. "The one about the bad consequences of alcohol?"

"Mercedes told me about it," Kurt responded. "Brittany and Santana threw up, right?"

"But Figgins loved it. Nobody has come to school while drunk for over a week, which is apparently some sort of record."

"I miss all that craziness," Kurt admitted. "Nothing ever happens at Dalton. It's so boring."

"I'll try to keep you posted," Finn promised. "Except if Mercedes does so before I get the chance."

"Thanks, Finn," Kurt said again. He got up from the bed and stretched. "Anyway, I've got some homework to complete and I have to get up early again tomorrow."

Finn pulled a face. "Just don't sing too loudly in the shower. The walls are rather thin here."

* * *

**A/N**: So, what do you think? If you have any comments or questions, or anything else, let me know, please review (they're very helpful, you know)!


	3. Sexy

**A/N**: This is not just a regular chapter - it doesn't take place at the Hudmel home, and there's no warm milk involved. Hopefully that's not too much of a turn-off. In the next chapter, they _will_ be in Finn's room again, though. This takes place after 2x15 (and so will the next chapter, most likely, as that should be sort of a follow up for this one), and I'm sorry for all the dense Warblers ;) Hopefully you'll enjoy the chapter!

* * *

Less than a week before Regionals, the Warblers were practising harder than ever to get their performance down. Tensions were rising as the council members kept on disagreeing about pretty much everything, including the recent revelation that apparently, they would have to be sexy in order to win the competition.

Suddenly, in the middle of singing one of the songs, the doors burst open and what looked (to most Warblers) like a giant rushed in.

"Kurt! You have to help me!"

Slightly annoyed, Kurt looked up to see his stepbrother standing there, looking all kinds of panicked. "Couldn't that wait until I get home, Finn?" he asked as the other Warblers stared at him in confusion. "Which is tonight, if I need to remind you. And you can't just interrupt our practice like that."

Only then, Finn seemed to realise all that. "Uh – maybe," he replied, looking around the room. "I didn't think of that."

"How did you even know where Kurt was?" Blaine asked from his position at the front of the group.

"This was the first room that had music coming from it," Finn responded, shrugging as if it was no big deal to just interrupt the competition, a couple of days before Regionals. "Anyway, Kurt, you have to help. Everyone's gone nuts – they've all joined the celibacy club and – "

"Celibacy club?" Blaine interrupted him, seeming confused. "We heard that you were going to 'sexify your performance'."

"Who told you that?" If possible, Finn sounded more confused than Blaine.

"Coach Sylvester," Kurt informed him, rolling his eyes. "We should've known something was up there. So that means that we don't have to do that either." He let out a breath of relief, while Blaine, and various other Warblers, actually looked a little _disappointed_.

"Coach Sylvester talked to you?" Finn asked. "That can't be good…"

"I'm quite sure she doesn't like me that much anymore," Kurt said. "Now, what were you saying about the celibacy club?"

"Everyone's joined," Finn told him. "First, it was just Rachel and Quinn with Miss Pillsbury, and then Puck joined – "

"_Puck_ joined?" Kurt choked out. He wanted to say more, but realised that he couldn't.

"Yeah, something about a sex tape and – but that's not the point here! Then, Lauren joined too, and Sam and Santana and Brittany and Artie…"

"That's not everyone," Kurt told him. "What's your point?" By now, he'd given up on the thought that maybe, Warbler practice could continue.

"I'm getting mixed signals here!" Finn exclaimed. "Quinn is just – she seems really into me when we make out, and she basically _told_ me she wants to have sex with me, but she's still a member of the celibacy club."

"Do we really have to talk about this?" Kurt asked, exasperated. Why did everyone suddenly want to talk to him about sex? Why him?

"Yes!"

"Now?"

"Yes!"

"Here?"

"Yes!"

Kurt groaned – Finn hadn't been the only one to answer that final question; a few Warblers seemed to like watching him squirm as well.

"Okay, first of all? Finn, why on earth are you messing around with Quinn?" If only he could outwit Finn – he normally had no problem doing that, but this was another subject altogether.

"Why _not_, exactly?" Finn demanded, sounding a little peeved now. "I mean, I'm no longer dating Rachel, and Quinn and Sam broke up as well. Sam's dating Santana now, so he moved on – even though I think Santana would rather be with Brittany, but Brittany doesn't want to break up with Artie… which makes sense, since he already got dumped awfully by Tina when she started dating Mike. And Rachel moved on as well." Here, his eyes briefly drifted towards Blaine, who seemed to have taken new interest in the floor. The other Warblers just stared at Finn with their mouths half open, trying to process all this information. "Anyway, they obviously moved on, so why can't Quinn and I do the same?"

"Wait, so Santana told Brittany she wants to be with her?" Kurt asked, very interested in hearing more about _that _particular part of the monologue.

Finn groaned. "That's all you heard out of that? I don't know what she told her, but they sang some song with Miss Holiday – yeah, she's back for sex ed classes. Oh – did you know Brittany thought she was pregnant a few days ago, because a stork was building a nest next to her house?"

"I hadn't heard about that yet," Kurt replied with a small smile. "But that sounds like Brittany…"

"So… Quinn?" Finn was becoming slightly impatient, that much was clear. The Warblers were still looking on with great interest, even though most of them probably had no idea whom they were talking about.

"Quinn… cheated on you. She slept with your best friend, got pregnant, and lied to you about it." The Quinn-Finn history in a nutshell. "Quinn's lovely, Finn – well, she can be, at least – but… is this really a good idea?" Before, he would have told Finn off for forgiving Quinn for cheating on him, but not Rachel – but not now. Rachel might think everything was alright between the two of them, but as far as Kurt was concerned, that wasn't the case.

"It was a mistake, she was drunk. It isn't going to happen again."

"When she cheated on Sam, she wasn't drunk. Was she?"

"I'm not Sam, and he's – "

"Are we ever going to continue practising, or what?" Jeff interrupted their debate loudly. This effectively shut Finn up, and Kurt glanced towards the council.

"Finn, just leave. We'll talk about this later."

"He can stay, if he wants to," David suggested. "It's not big deal, right?"

Finn, apparently thinking uncharacteristically quickly that day, replied, "No, not at all."

As he walked towards one of the couches, Blaine threw Kurt a questioning look, and Kurt wondered whether the Warblers really never spied on their competition in any way, or if they were just didn't think they'd come barging in in the middle of practice, demanding their stepbrother's undivided attention. And hadn't Blaine commented on the plans they thought New Directions had just a few minutes ago?

"Uh, yes, it is," he spoke up, glancing sternly at Finn. "Just wait outside, Finn, or go home. I'll see you later."

"It's really no problem," David insisted, and Finn grinned.

"See, Kurt? It's fine. You should really be nicer, like these guys."

Kurt rolled his eyes. "They're only nice because they don't know you're in New Directions."

Finn gasped, though Kurt wasn't sure if it was faked or not. "How can you betray me like that, Kurt? We're brothers!"

"Stepbrothers," Kurt corrected him almost automatically. "Just go, Finn."

Somewhat dejectedly, Finn got up from the couch and walked out of the room, not sparing any of the Warblers another glance. Kurt sighed before looking back at the group.

"Well, that was… interesting," Wes said pensively. Kurt just sent him an apologetic smile, hoping that he wouldn't get blamed for this, and he went back to where he'd been standing before Finn arrived. Blaine nudged him as he passed, and Kurt raised his brow questioningly. Then, Blaine smirked.

"Do you really have to have your 'lady chats' with your brother _here_?"

Kurt rolled his eyes in response. "Oh, hush, you."

* * *

**A/N**: So, what do you think? I really write too many Warbler-meetings-in-which-the-Warblers-find-out-about-the-madness-that-is-McKinley scenes, it seems. Anyway, let me know what you think, please review!


	4. Original song

**A/N**: I know I said this chapter would be about 'Sexy' as well, but I just watched 'Original Song' (downside of not living in the US) and I just had to write this, so... yeah. But I will write at least one other chapter for 'Sexy'. Oh, and if you have any suggestions for other chats Finn and Kurt could have based on what goes down in certain episodes (probably starting from 2x11, though I suppose everything after Sectionals is fair game), don't hesitate to let me know, and I'll consider it :)

And here's where I ramble about the episode, so if you're not interested or haven't seen it yet, feel free to skip this part :P So... Kurt during _Misery_ just made my day. He looked so bored and annoyed, I loved it :P And while I'm glad that Blaine finally got his act together (though I did _not_ see that kiss coming :) )... is it me or is it a little... morbid to realise your feelings for someone while that person is singing a final ode to a dead pet bird? I have to admit, I first thought his epiphany was about how the lyrics applied to Kurt too, but that turned out not to be the case... Speaking of which, I thought Kurt was going to return to McKinley in this ep? Oh well. There's always next time. Even if that won't be until in four weeks :( _And_: I didn't really like how they made Kurt so hung up about losing Regionals. Now it's almost like he might be going back to McKinley because he wants to go to Nationals. But I liked how he reacted to just getting that solo :) The original songs that didn't get picked were, for the most part, hilarious (though I wonder how much longer Sam's going to stay with Santana...) and Quinn's part was very interesting, I think. Her reasoning seemed good, though I doubt she's really doing this for Rachel - come on, that doesn't really seem like her. But I did like that everyone seemed to appreciate Rachel just a little more now, and that she didn't turn her 'acceptance speech' into a story about how great and talented she is. I do wonder, though, how she used her experience with being in a relationship with a boy who turned out to be gay in the end :P As for Finn, I actually liked him this episode :) And Sue - oh deary me. She's evil. Though I did like the part where she was throwing tiny little sticks at Mercedes. Awesome, because at least she didn't throw big sticks or anything. And she attacked the woman who announced the winner - isn't there a saying in English, don't shoot the messenger?  
Hm... there was probably a lot more that I wanted to mention, but this author's note is becoming much too long already. Sorry for my rant, I'll try not to do that again. So, if you've made it here - hopefully you'll enjoy the chapter! :D

* * *

Something was off when Finn returned home that afternoon. The house was completely silent – had he been alone, this wouldn't have been so odd. But Kurt's car was already in the driveway, which could only mean that Finn's stepbrother was home. And Kurt being home usually meant music drifting through the house, especially at this time of day.

So something had to be wrong for the house to be so quiet. It made Finn try to walk up the stairs as silently as possible, but he wasn't very well-practised in that. He was certain that Kurt could hear him coming from miles away.

"Uh, Kurt? What's wrong?" Finn poked his head around Kurt's bedroom door and looked around. His stepbrother was nowhere in sight (he was probably in the bathroom), but he wasn't the only one. From what Finn could see from where he was standing, the bird cage that Kurt had been trusted with ever since he joined the Warblers was empty. "Kurt? Where's Pav? Is he flying around? Oh – damn it, he didn't escape, did he?" He looked around frantically, but couldn't spot the yellow blob anywhere in the hallway.

"His wings were clipped," Kurt replied quietly, still out of Finn's view. "He couldn't fly."

"Oh, right." Now he remembered. He'd asked Kurt about that time and again and always got the same reply. But for some reason, something about the way Kurt said it now was different from how he usually reminded Finn of this. And his tone wasn't the only thing that was different from any other time. "Wait – what do you mean, he _couldn't _fly? Why the past tense?"

Finally, Kurt emerged from the bathroom, and even Finn noticed that he looked incredibly distraught. Kurt made a movement to sit down on the bed, but then seemed to rethink that – instead, he walked past Finn, out of his room. "I really need some warm milk right now," he said in a thick voice that Finn was sure he was trying to keep under control.

Wordlessly, Finn followed Kurt back to the kitchen, his mind reeling. "Are you okay?" he asked, even though he knew Kurt was far from okay – the little fact that he wanted warm milk in the middle of the day was enough of a giveaway. Furthermore, he was sniffling a little and Finn hadn't yet forgotten about the look on his face half a minute earlier.

"Do you want some?" Kurt asked, ignoring Finn's question, and the taller boy nodded. They didn't usually drink milk and have their little chats during the day, but that was alright. Kurt looked like he needed it now and Finn still had to make up for storming into Warbler practice a few days ago.

"So you – uh… want to talk about it?" Finn started as soon as Kurt handed him one of the mugs. Kurt just stared into his mug, and Finn felt a little uneasy. It was hard enough for him to talk about emotional stuff as it was, but if Kurt wasn't going to answer him too – that made it much, much harder.

"He's dead," Kurt all but whispered. "Pav. He died this morning." He sniffled again, but he wasn't crying, for which Finn was thankful. He'd probably cried enough already, though.

"Pav… died?" This came as a surprise to Finn. "Wasn't he hopping around and chirping with all his might last night?"

Kurt nodded. "I think it was a stroke," he responded, his voice strained. "He was… chirping one second, and the next… he was just… lying there."

He hastily gulped down some of the milk, probably in an attempt to stop himself from sobbing. "God, Kurt, that's – that's… awful." True, when they'd first all moved in together, Finn didn't really appreciate the fact that Pavarotti always started chirping as soon as Kurt got up, two hours before Finn. Over the past few months, though, the whole family, Finn included, had grown quite attached to the little yellow bird. "Did you tell Burt? Or mum?"

Kurt shook his head. "Not yet," he muttered. "I did – tell the Warblers, though. I mean, they had the right to know, right? Pav was like our mascot. And now he's – gone."

"How did they react?" Finn asked with a frown. If the stories Kurt had told him about the Warblers, and what their meetings were like – he didn't know if it would be good.

"They took it fairly well," Kurt replied, seeming less emotional now. "They didn't throw me out. Considering the circumstances – Regionals are _this weekend_ – well, I didn't know what to expect, but it wouldn't have surprised me if they'd kicked me out."

"Well, that's… good, right?" Kurt shrugged in response. "What are you going to do now?"

"I'm going to bury him," Kurt answered. "Well – Blaine said he'd come so I guess we'll bury him together. We just need to find a nice spot, you know?"

Finn chewed on his lip for a second before remembering that his milk must be starting to go cold. Hastily picking up his mug, he almost gulped all of it down in one go. "You can't just bury him in the backyard?" he asked, wondering if that was a very stupid suggestion.

Kurt shook his head resolutely, so he figured it was. "No, that's not going to happen," he replied almost forcefully. "Who knows what's going to happen to it – we still haven't made up our minds about what we're going to do with the backyard. I don't want to risk burying Pav there now and then dig him up again in a few months."

"The park," Finn suggested. "There are some spots there where no one ever comes, with trees and stuff…"

Kurt was silent for a minute. "That sounds nice," he said quietly. "We'll consider it." He sipped his milk and smiled a bit. "Thanks, Finn. You must be… swamped with all kinds of stuff right now and I'm making you listen to my problems."

Finn shrugged. "It's okay. I think we're all going to miss having Pav around. Besides, we're family now, right? In a way, at least…"

"Yes, we are," Kurt said with a small smile. He sighed. "Could you… do me a favour, Finn? Just – don't tell anyone yet. Keep this between us at least until after Regionals. It's not that I don't care about Mercedes or Rachel or anyone else, but… Pav _was_ sort of our mascot. And now he's gone with Regionals coming up, and we're on opposing teams… I don't want this to be a bad omen for the competition."

"That's alright," Finn replied swiftly. He could keep this a secret for another couple of days. "I get it. Still, you'd better bring it at Regionals, because we're going to blow your mind." Maybe the sudden topic shift was a little insensitive, but Kurt had sort of been the one to bring it up.

Kurt pulled a funny face before turning serious again. "I don't doubt that."

"Aren't you going to tell me how you are going to beat us?" Finn asked, a little surprised. "Come on, man, I'm trying to get your mind off of things here."

"It's not really working," Kurt informed him. "He was still so young," he sighed, sounding very defeated. Turning back to Finn, he added, "And no, I'm not. If we're going to win, we'll win. If you are, you will."

"Blaine's going to sing lead again while all the others sway in the background?" Finn guessed, and Kurt looked about as shocked as he himself felt. He almost never had such brilliant moment while in class, sadly.

"I believe that's the plan," Kurt grumbled. "It's so predictable even _you_ know it."

"Hey!" Finn cried out. "Take that back!"

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Fine. It's so predictable that maybe even Britt could figure it out."

Finn nodded in approval. "That sounds more like it."

"And let me guess, you haven't started practising yet?" Kurt asked, and Finn grinned goofily.

"You bet we aren't. Though we actually have a good reason for that. I think. But that's all I'm telling you."

Kurt stood up and grabbed both their mugs. "That's alright," he told Finn. "Anyway, thanks for listening."

"That's what brothers do, right?" Finn asked with another grin, and Kurt smiled back – not just a little bit, but a true smile.

"Right," he agreed.

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**A/N**: So, what do you think about this? It's as if every chapter gets a (slightly?) corny ending if I continue like this :S Let me know if you have any comments/thoughts/questions, please review!


	5. Original song II

**A/N**: This chapter is huge. Well, far bigger than any of the other chapters for this story, at least. A few things before the actual story - this should cover pretty much everything that happens in 'Original Song' after Pavarotti's death (see previous chapter). That's also kind of the reason _why_ this chapter is so long. I can only hope that the characters don't seem very OOC (especially slightlyphilosophical!Finn), and that the story actually makes some sense and isn't too chaotic. Anyway. In my mind, Regionals (and Sectionals, for that matter) starts in the morning, so the results come somewhere in the middle of the afternoon at the latest, thus giving Kurt and Blaine enough time to get back to Dalton and bury Pav right afterwards (because honestly, whenever one of our pets died, we'd bury it the same day, and not several days later, so I'd say it's about time). Since 'Special Education' just happened to be on tv here last night, there are a few references to Sectionals in here that I wouldn't have thought of otherwise (and honestly, I felt so bad when Blaine handed Kurt Pav). Anyway, hopefully you'll enjoy the chapter!

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When Finn got home that evening, he was still high on adrenaline from winning Regionals. He, like many of his team members, couldn't believe that they had done it – they'd beaten the competition and they were going to Nationals. It was unbelievable. Earlier that night, there had been a small victory party at Rachel's place. Her fathers had been so proud and happy that they had allowed their daughter to throw a party.

Obviously, they had no idea what had gone down the last time she had done that.

Nevertheless, there had been no alcohol this time, and it wasn't even needed – everyone was drunk with happiness already, and it had made Finn forget about what he'd heard in the green room earlier that day. Now that he was home, those thoughts hit him like a truck again.

He had heard it from Rachel – heck, everyone in the greenroom had, as she had screamed so loudly and excitedly that everyone attending Regionals must've heard it – who had just been filled in by an equally excited Mercedes, who had confronted Kurt about the matter only a few minutes earlier.

Yes, when Rachel had screamed, "_He kissed him?_" at the top of her lungs, while grinning like mad, even Finn could do the math and figure out that it must have something to do with his stepbrother and, most likely, Blaine.

Which was actually a little weird – he didn't think Rachel was all that happy that he, Finn, was about to start dating Quinn again, but she _was_ happy that Blaine was now apparently dating someone else? Finn would never understand girls.

But while he was happy for Kurt that his unrequited crush was no longer unrequited, he was also a little angry. Why did he have to hear this news from Rachel (and Mercedes)? Why couldn't Kurt tell him? They were brothers, right? And didn't brothers tell each other everything? He had thought that, because they were brothers, they would share everything.

Clearly, Kurt didn't think that was so.

Was it because Kurt somehow didn't want Burt to know just yet (Finn didn't really see why – Burt didn't hate Blaine, right?), and he was afraid that Finn might tell him? Since he was a brother now, was he no longer a friend? From what he saw all around him, siblings didn't necessarily have to be that close, and most of them didn't share much. But none of the people Finn knew had gotten a sibling the way he had, and none of them were as close in age as he and Kurt were. Plus, none of the others had actually _known_ each other _before_ becoming siblings.

So had he been pushed out of the friend-zone and into the family-zone, and did those two exist, for Kurt at least, without overlap? But hadn't Kurt been the one who had insisted on those talks every now and then, with a glass of milk accompanying them, to hear what the other had been up to lately? Finn frowned; his head was starting to hurt. The best thing he could think of right now was just confront Kurt and ask him why he had had to find out about something as big as this from his ex-girlfriend.

He was about to head upstairs when he heard sounds coming from the kitchen – their parents weren't home, or so Finn assumed. Kurt's car had been the only one in the driveway when he'd arrived. Secretly hoping that Blaine wasn't here as well and that those two weren't doing… things in the kitchen, Finn quietly walked towards the source of the sound.

He even recognised the sound as a song now – it was their version of _Empire State of Mind_, which they'd sung at the beginning of the school year, after hearing that… _Nationals would take place in New York_. Huh. Finn hadn't even thought about that song when they'd won, or during the victory party. He wouldn't have put it past Rachel to play that song on repeat.

Instead, he mused, as he heard the song start over, it seemed like _Kurt_ was playing the song on repeat. Which didn't even make any sense, because he hadn't won.

True enough, when he stuck his head into the kitchen, Kurt was sitting at the table glumly, a glass of milk in front of him. His phone, which was playing the song, was lying on the table somewhere next to him.

Finn tried to sneak in without being noticed – sure, he wanted to confront Kurt about the whole Blaine issue, but it looked like that was the last thing on his stepbrother's mind right now. Unfortunately (or not), his sneaking around skills weren't all that good, so he figured he shouldn't have been too surprised when Kurt whipped his head around and stared at him for a couple of seconds.

"Finn," Kurt greeted him, sounding a little surprised. "I didn't – hear you come in. Or – expect you home already, actually."

Finn gestured towards the phone, and Kurt raised an eyebrow. "I think the music's too loud for you to hear anything," Finn therefore said, perhaps a little too loud as well. "Why are you listening to that song anyway?" he asked curiously, before he could stop himself. "Isn't that majorly depressing for you right now?"

One look at Kurt's face told him that he was right for once. "Maybe that's why I'm listening to it," Kurt replied, turning back to the table again and stopping the song. "I don't know. I guess… I really wanted to win this. And we didn't."

Yeah, Finn didn't think this would be the right time to run through the house, cheering at the top of his lungs because New Directions had won Regionals.

"They didn't even name the runners-up, did they?" Kurt asked, and Finn was about to answer when Kurt continued. "I suppose I'm a bit of a masochist." Upon seeing Finn's confused face, he added, "Never mind. I don't know why I was listening to that. Maybe to remember the old times when we thought everything was going to be great and everyone was going to love us, and we'd get a lot of new members this year, and we would all be going to New York, as a team."

Finn nodded. "Yeah, I know. Those things didn't really come true, right?"

"You want some milk?" Kurt asked, possibly to distract himself.

Finn shrugged and sat down. "Sure."

"And of course I'm happy for you guys," Kurt told him as he stood up. "I'm so… proud of you that you managed to win, but – I suppose it's times like these that it's so glaringly obvious that I'm really no longer part of New Directions, no matter how much we all pretend I still am." He sighed, and asked, in a slightly less emotional tone, "How was your party?"

"Pretty tame, compared to the last one," Finn replied with a lopsided grin.

"You just spazzed out and ran around the house screaming for a couple of hours?"

"Pretty much." A silence. "So what did you do?"

Kurt handed him a mug and sagged down in his chair, for once not seeming to care about what that would do to his outfit. "Everyone was… disappointed. Some were angry, others were just… very passive about the whole ordeal. We got back at Dalton and everyone went their own way. Nothing special." He paused for a moment before adding, "We went to bury Pavarotti, Blaine and I. We figured it was about time."

Finn nodded quietly. He remembered how awful he had felt the previous year, when they'd lost Regionals. They'd been so sure that they were going to win, that they'd beaten Vocal Adrenaline… and then they hadn't. And Figgins had almost disbanded New Directions – but for some reason, he'd given them another year all of a sudden. Now they'd won Regionals, so they'd get another year, right?

"We buried him on the outskirts of the Dalton grounds. That seemed like the most appropriate thing to do," Kurt continued.

Not knowing what to say to that, Finn just blurted out, "Why didn't you tell me about you and Blaine? Why did I have to hear it from _Rachel_?"

Kurt's eyes went wide as saucers. "W-What?" he stumbled. Within half a second, however, his facial expression was normal again. "I wasn't aware that you were interested in that, Finn. And what do you mean, you heard it from Rachel?"

"She shouted it across the greenroom when Mercedes told her. And of course I'm interested. I've always wanted to play the intimidating, overprotective older brother."

Kurt groaned. "Please tell me this isn't happening. She shouted it across – so _everyone_ knows now?"

"Yes," Finn replied, somewhat smugly.

"So let me guess, all the other Glee guys are already waiting for Blaine to do something wrong so they can… stand up for their own, or how would you call it, just like you've always done?"

Finn wasn't sure if Kurt was being sarcastic again, so he decided to just ignore the final part of that question. "Yes, they are," he confirmed. "The girls too, by the way." As Kurt rolled his eyes, Finn realised something. "Wait! You still didn't tell me why you didn't tell me!"

"You would just let it slip to my dad," Kurt replied, confirming what Finn already suspected. "I didn't want him to find out that way."

"Then just tell him," Finn told him, not understanding what could possibly be so difficult about that.

"I'm still waiting for the right moment," Kurt said in a tone that indicated that the subject what hereby dropped. For now.

"You also didn't tell me that you got a solo for Regionals," Finn accused him.

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Well, of course not. You're the competition. Besides, neither did you." Finn tried to come up with a good (and hopefully smart) comeback, but then Kurt continued speaking. "Of course, I could've known – Rachel would've thrown a fit if she hadn't gotten a solo _again_, and naturally, if she has the female lead, you get the male lead."

"Exactly," Finn quickly agreed before Kurt could say anything else. "And I didn't even know you were auditioning for a solo. I could've helped you."

Thankfully, Kurt refrained from saying anything to contradict that last statement. "I wasn't auditioning," he told Finn with a small smile. "Blaine was going to sing everything again, _of course_, but apparently he listened when I told him that is was like the Warblers were all about him. So he told the council he wanted to sing a duet – with me. No auditions, nothing."

Finn was a little confused. "He can just tell them that and they agree with him?"

Kurt nodded gravely. "All the Warblers worship him. It's quite… disconcerting. Of course, some of them disagreed at first but in the end, they were all in favour of his proposal."

"Well," Finn said, shrugging, "at least you _did_ get a solo out of it."

"True," Kurt admitted, but then his face fell again. "But I can't help but think that we would've had a better shot at winning if Blaine had just sung everything. The judges were so… conservative, they must not have liked a duet between two boys very much."

While that might be true, Finn wasn't going to say that out loud. "You were awesome, Kurt. Really. I think you almost brought Puck to tears. _Puck_!" When Kurt merely raised an eyebrow at him, probably seriously doubting Finn's mental health, Finn added, "Just ask Rachel. She was right next to him." Then he wondered if Kurt was even on speaking terms with Rachel – after Rachel's party, he wouldn't be surprised if they weren't; they could both be immensely stubborn, after all – but Rachel had seemed genuinely happy for Kurt when she heard about him and Blaine, right?

"Mercedes told me that Puck got a little teary by the Hipsters' performance at Sectionals, so I'm not sure if that's a compliment. But, I'm just relieved it went alright," Kurt said. With a wry smile, he continued, "Turns out the Warblers are almost just as bad as New Directions when it comes to competition preparation. We had two days to prepare and perfect that duet!"

"So did we," Finn replied. "But we're used to it by now." Suddenly feeling curious, he asked, "Did Blaine say why he wanted to sing that song with you?"

It could've been him, but Finn thought Kurt definitely started glowing when he asked that question. "Apparently it was just an excuse to spend more time with me," his stepbrother gushed – it made Finn feel slightly uncomfortable. "And that's when he kissed me."

"Just like that?" Finn didn't even know why he asked – he wasn't sure if he wanted to know. Kurt seemed to think the same thing.

"Yes, Finn, just like that. But I doubt you want to hear the rest of the story."

"Right, of course. No, I don't. No. Sorry." In his attempt to hastily get the words out of his mouth, Finn may have stumbled once or twice.

Kurt just shrugged. "That's fine. I would prefer to talk about it with the girls anyway. They are far less awkward."

Finn knew that he was currently being offended, but secretly, he was glad that he didn't have to hear about the kiss – and what happened beforehand and afterwards – in full detail. He wasn't homophobic or anything (at least, he tried with all his might no to be), and while he was mostly used to his stepbrother's sexuality, things like this still made him uncomfortable. Just like how Kurt could get all squeamish when Finn and the other Glee guys would brag about their girlfriends' bodies.

"You have to tell Burt soon," he just warned Kurt in reply, and Kurt pulled a face, probably realising that they were back where they'd started.

"I suppose I have to," he conceded, glancing at the door nervously, as if expecting his dad to come in all of a sudden. "Some time."

"Soon," Finn repeated, and Kurt looked up at him, annoyed.

"Stay out of my business, Finn Hudson," he told him in what should probably be a threatening way. It just didn't come across that way.

Taking a sip from his milk, Finn smirked slightly. "Hey, if you don't want to tell him, that's fine with me. But don't blame me if you don't and you have Blaine over one day and your dad walks in on you, not expecting anything – "

"Alright, alright, I get it," Kurt grumbled, still trying to stare Finn down. "I'll talk to him. _Soon_."

That must've been the first argument Finn had won in these past months they'd spend as stepbrothers. He considered it a great victory.

"Why did you use original songs, though?" Kurt suddenly asked; that question really seemed to bother him. "Surely there must've been suitable songs for you?"

"Rachel's idea," Finn replied, and it appeared that Kurt already expected that answer. "Coach Sylvester was awful this week. She put dirt in Santana and Brittany's locker, threw sticks at Mercedes in the hallway… and she forged a letter from My Chemical Romance – we were planning on doing _Sing_ for Regionals."

Kurt couldn't help but smile a little wryly at this. "She's crazy," he muttered, shaking his head. "It's horrible that she did those things. So you just wrote your own stuff after that letter?"

Finn nodded. "Rachel started weeks ago, actually. It wasn't much, at first – songs about her headband and stuff like that."

Kurt grinned at this. "Do you still have that song?"

"She probably put it on the internet?" Finn said in reply, and Kurt seemed to cheer up at least a little. "I think she wrote some more songs, but in the end…"

"She wrote _Get it right_?" Kurt guessed, and Finn nodded. He still wasn't sure about what he'd felt during her performance at Regionals, but Quinn hadn't looked happy.

"We all wrote _Loser like me_ together. Well, except for Rachel. And Quinn came in somewhere halfway."

"So that was what she meant by having to go compose…" Kurt mused out loud. Then, he turned to Finn with an accusing look in his eyes. "You _did_ know what that was about! I asked you, but you said you didn't know!"

"What?" Now, Finn was confused. He had no idea what Kurt was talking about.

"When Blaine turned out to be gay – thank God – she said she had to compose, and that having a gay boyfriend was song writing gold or something along those lines. I asked you what she meant, and you said you didn't know!"

"Oh." Now Finn remembered. "Well, you're the competition now. I couldn't tell you what we were doing. They would've killed me!"

Kurt just shot him a wounded look. "I could've kept it a secret!" he protested. "If you'd told me that it was confidential and about Regionals, I wouldn't have mentioned a thing to the other Warblers!"

"You didn't tell me about your solo either," Finn said, realising now that that subject had been forgotten rather quickly earlier on.

"That's because you can't keep things like that a secret," Kurt pointed out. "Besides, what does it matter? You beat us anyway." And gone was the slightly happier Kurt; he was once again replaced by a more sullen version of the boy.

"I did keep the thing about our original songs a secret," Finn reminded him, and Kurt groaned – Finn liked to think that it was because he couldn't keep up with Finn's logic, but knowing Kurt, it must be something else entirely.

"Your choreography wasn't as good as usually, though," Kurt rapidly changed the subject. "It wasn't bad or anything, just… not as good. You were great at Sectionals, but now…"

"We knew what we were going to do for _Sing_," Finn responded. "But then we got that letter, and we had to write songs within a week, and practise those, and also the choreography?"

"You'll need to do better at Nationals," Kurt told him, and with that, his face fell again, and he sighed. "Anyway, Vocal Adrenaline will most likely be there, and even if they're not, there will be other teams who have gotten that far and you can't just… expect to win because you wrote your own songs."

Right. Finn had almost forgotten about the fact that they'd have to face Vocal Adrenaline at Nationals, but of course, they were probably still alive and kicking just like New Directions. That was something Mr Schue had not mentioned yet.

"Maybe we can get the Warblers to help us out there," he joked, and Kurt gave him a pointed look – Finn wasn't sure what he was trying to say, though. "Your choreography was a whole lot better than at Sectionals."

"Thank you, Finn," Kurt said somewhat proudly. "You should see some of those guys sometimes during impromptu performances at Dalton – they're really talented. But the council didn't want to do that for the competition. I think they were afraid that it'd become much too chaotic."

"And that's not really your thing." Finn smirked. It had taken him a while, but it seemed like Kurt was feeling more and more at ease at his new (well, _new_…) school and with the other students.

"Not quite," Kurt confirmed, pulling a face. "Hey, was there any juicy green room drama going on this time?" He sounded much too eager, Finn thought.

"Compared to all the previous competitions? No, not really," he replied, and Kurt actually looked disappointed. Though, he had admitted to missing the New Directions drama at various times already, so maybe that wasn't too strange.

After another short silence, during which Kurt put his glass and Finn's mug in the sink, he asked, "What about the other songs? Or did you only write one song?"

Finn grinned. "I didn't write much, but the others did. We could check YouTube if they're on there already?"

"Tell me about them first," Kurt instructed him eagerly. "Were they really bad?"

"Most of them were pretty funny, actually," Finn admitted. "I told you about _My headband_ already – I think it must be online somewhere, because Brittany told us that it's her favourite song of all time." Kurt just looked confused and slightly disturbed by this. "And then… Rachel wrote about being an only child. It was better, but that doesn't say much."

"Was Rachel the only one who wrote songs?"

Finn shook his head. "No, she just had a head start. Santana wrote a song for Sam, called _Trouty mouth_. He didn't seem to like it a lot – he interrupted her at some point, and he forbade her to sing it again later on."

"_Trouty mouth_?" Kurt asked disbelievingly. "Seriously? Poor Sam…"

"Everyone else loved it, though," Finn said, unable to hold back his laughter.

Kurt rolled his eyes. "I bet you did."

"Puck sang a song for Lauren," Finn continued, trying to get his mind off of the _Trouty mouth_ debacle. "He called it _Big ass heart_."

"That does sound like Puck," Kurt commented, smiling a little. "Did she like it?"

"I think she did," Finn replied. "And Mercedes sang something too. Do you want to hear now, or do you want her to tell you all about it?" Judging from the grin on Kurt's face, Finn guessed that his stepbrother wanted to know all about that song right at that moment.

"Now," Kurt demanded, and Finn hoped he wouldn't have to deal with an angry Mercedes later, for telling her best friend about her song already.

"So she didn't tell you about the original songs either?" Finn asked suspiciously. Kurt shook his head impatiently, so he quickly went on. "It was called _Hell to the no_, and it involved her tots." As expected, Kurt chuckled at first, but when he heard about the tots, he groaned.

"She'd better be taking good care of herself," he muttered, more to himself than to Finn. Trying to crack a smile, he added, "Can we go see if we can find those songs on the internet? I could use a laugh."

"You have no plans with Blaine tonight?" Finn asked suspiciously. Burt may not have been home, but Finn just wanted to be sure.

Kurt shook his head somewhat sadly. "I believe there's a 'sorry-we-didn't-win' sort of party going to happen at Dalton tonight, but I opted out of it. I didn't feel like going, and I'd either have to drive home in the middle of the night, or I'd have to stay there, in someone's room… dad wouldn't have approved."

"Then let's watch," Finn said with a dopey grin. "I'll race you." With that, he was gone, Kurt's indignant shouts following him as he sprinted up the stairs.

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**A/N**: So... what do you think? If you have any comments or questions, please let me know in a review! Also, if you have any suggestions for what these two could possibly discuss, don't hesitate to leave a review as well! :D


	6. Sexy II

**A/N**: Well, this is significantly shorter than the previous chapter - I hope you don't mind (too much). As I said some time before, these chapters aren't necessarily in chronological order, even though up until now, they were. This, however, takes place at the beginning of 'Sexy', so that order is now officially non-existant :P Oh, before I forget - Kurt displays some... sexual knowledge (if you could even call it that) here, but I figured that it's the sort of stuff everyone sort of... knows. (I mean, we got sex ed when we were around 14 or younger, and even then, we already knew some of the stuff...) That's not to say he's completely comfortable talking about it :P

...I still really wish there were more Furt-scenes on the show (I think they've had one in total after the wedding?).

And oh wow, the new promo? Why is the next episode still two weeks away? :(

Anyway, hopefully you'll enjoy the chapter :)

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"Finn. Care to inform me why Mercedes sent me about three texts today to make sure I wasn't eating any cucumber? And why the salad I prepared for dinner suddenly had no cucumbers in it anymore, while I was _sure_ that I'd put them in there?"

Finn jumped out three feet in the air as his stepbrother's voice drifted into his room. He whipped his head around and there Kurt was, standing on the threshold with two glasses of warm milk in his hands, and he didn't look all too pleased – though Finn was relieved to see that he looked more confused than anything else.

Holding out one of his hands, Finn wondered how to start this particular story. It helped greatly that this was Kurt, who was used to the weird stuff that happened at McKinley, and not one of his Dalton friends, or a distant family member.

Walking into the room and wrinkling his nose at the mess, Kurt handed Finn his mug. Finn took this as a sign to start talking. "We had sex-ed today…"

Kurt shot him a weird look. "What does that have to do with cucumbers?"

"Apparently, they give you Aids," Finn announced with a grave look on his face. Strangely enough, Kurt didn't immediately crouch down and thank him for saving him from such an awful fate – no, he just raised an eyebrow at Finn in obvious disbelief.

"Aids, Finn? From cucumbers? Do you honestly think that people would still eat cucumbers if they gave you Aids?"

"Maybe not everybody knows about it," Finn replied.

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Trust me, Finn – everything they teach at public school is general knowledge for the biggest part of the population. If cucumbers, or any other vegetable, caused Aids, they would no longer be sold."

"But Ms Holiday – " Finn started, eager to tell Kurt what she had taught them that day, but Kurt cut him off. However rude that was, though, it did give Finn the chance to drink some milk.

Delicious.

Not that he'd ever tell Puck or any of the other guys at school.

"Was probably thoroughly misinterpreted by you and Mercedes," Kurt finished his sentence. "Cucumbers don't give you Aids. Having unsafe sex can." This last bit came out a little strangled, but Finn chose not to comment on this.

"Then why did she show us a cucumber?" he asked, feeling slightly triumphant – he was sure Kurt wouldn't know what to say to that. Unfortunately for him, his stepbrother nearly always had something to say about everything.

"What did she do with the cucumber after telling you about Aids?" Kurt asked, and Finn didn't have to think for long.

"She showed us how – oh…," Finn said, suddenly understanding what Kurt was getting at.

"Exactly," Kurt said with a knowing, but also a little uneasy smirk. "There's nothing wrong with eating cucumbers. In fact, they're far more healthy than all the junk food you always eat."

Finn almost retorted that at least junk food didn't give him STDs, but he figured that Kurt had rendered that argument invalid by now. So he just ignored that final comment. "Maybe you should tell Mercedes, too," he told his stepbrother seriously. "If I tell her, she won't believe me. But she trusts you."

Kurt sighed. "I guess I'll have to, right? Especially now that she's finally eating salad, and not just tots. I still don't get why they brought those back."

Finn shrugged. "Pretty much all of coach Sylvester's changes were reversed when Figgins came back." Then he thought of something. "Why didn't Ms Holiday use something else to demonstrate the condom on?"

Kurt seemed to flinch a little now, but he replied nevertheless. "What else could she use? A banana? Then you would've thought bananas caused Aids…"

That was true too, Finn thought. "She just should've made it clearer that cucumbers are safe to eat," he said defiantly, and Kurt just shook his head.

"I think that's common knowledge for most people, Finn. I doubt she's actually met people before who thought… well, that."

"At least Mercedes was with me," Finn protested, and Kurt sighed.

"Why didn't you just ask if you didn't understand?" he asked.

Finn shrugged, staring at his mug with great interest. "I was just… shocked. Before I knew it, the class was over."

"Wait," Kurt said, "you didn't even pay attention to the rest of the story?"

"She didn't talk that much after that," Finn tried to calm him down. "She – I don't know what she did. But I don't think I missed all that much."

Kurt muttered something under his breath before standing up. "Well, I hope you realise that cucumbers – and other fruits and vegetables as well – are completely safe and healthy. Now, I need to go make sure Mercedes understands that as well."

Finn grinned at the face Kurt made – he didn't appear to be overjoyed at the prospect, quite the opposite, actually. "Good luck," he said cheerfully, but Kurt was out of the door already, leaving Finn to stare at his computer screen for a moment, before realising that he didn't really need to Google the combination of 'cucumbers' and 'STDs' anymore. He'd been confused when nothing had come up, but at least now, he understood. That was quite a relief.

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**A/N**: So... what do you think? :) Did you like it, hate it, anything else? Either way, let me know, please review! :D


	7. Special education

**A/N**: Hello :) This chapter - I don't know if I'm happy with it; the introduction takes up half the chapter anyway, and I'm sorry for that - would chronologically be the first, as it takes place in between Special Education and AVGC. Only after writing this chapter this way, I realised that maybe the Hudmels didn't immediately move in together but only after buying a new house (took me only four months to get there :S) - but naturally, that's not the case here.

Hopefully you'll like the chapter, and please leave a review! :)

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It was two weeks since the wedding, and Finn had, by now, managed to come to terms with the fact that he now had a real stepdad and stepbrother. He and his mum had moved in with the Hummels almost right after the wedding, but now, for the first time, everyone was home. Which meant that Finn had spent most of his day cleaning up his (and Kurt's. Mostly Kurt's) room to avoid getting glared or shouted at the entire weekend.

Yes, Burt had promised that they would buy another house, in which both boys could have their own rooms, but for the time being, they had to share. Finn suspected that they were going to be moving during the Christmas holidays, which sort of sucked.

And he didn't really know how to behave around Kurt now – sure, they were brothers now and Finn meant what he had said at the wedding, but Kurt was still the competition (even though Sectionals was already over), and he had been the one who had (perhaps unknowingly, but still) told Rachel that everyone had known all along about Finn and Santana. Finn was fairly sure that the other boy's crush on him had been over the second he had said the f-word (no, not that one, the other one) all those months ago, but he had never shared a room with anyone before, and neither had Kurt, so who knew what would happen.

Of course, Finn wasn't sure if Kurt had a roommate at Dalton – he'd probably hear everything about it this weekend. It had been decided that Kurt should board at least until Christmas. If he'd rather come back home then, he was welcome to do so, but their parents had encouraged him to at least give boarding a try. Finn thought that maybe, it was to prevent them having to share a room the whole week.

Family dinner (it was a Friday night, after all) had been easy enough to get through; everyone talked about their week, and about the upcoming week. Everyone ate, spoke and laughed as if they'd done this for years already, even though this was the first time they were really together as a family. It seemed almost natural.

Which was great, of course.

After dinner, however, the trickiest part of the weekend came – it was the moment when Finn was told to take Kurt's bags downstairs, with Kurt himself following suit. Finn almost collapsed under the weight of the bags – it was as if his stepbrother had brought everything he'd packed for Dalton back home with him now.

"Why aren't you carrying anything?" Finn therefore asked as he tried not to fall down the stairs.

Kurt rolled his eyes at him. "Fine. Give me that." With that, he grabbed what was probably the lightest bag from the pile and scrambled past Finn, who tried to keep his balance and just barely succeeded. He didn't want to face the wrath of Kurt if he dared to drop any of his undoubtedly expensive bags.

When Finn finally arrived downstairs, he tried to carefully put the bags down (though apparently, not carefully enough). Kurt was already inspecting the room with the eye of an expert.

"I must say I'm impressed," the shorter boy commented in the end. "It looks like you at least attempted to keep the room clean, which is more than I thought you would do."

Finn grinned proudly. It wasn't often that he could prove Kurt wrong, after all.

"Although…," Kurt muttered, staring at Finn's bed pensively. He crossed the room within a second and crouched down next to the bed. Wrinkling his nose, he stood back up. "Honestly, Finn? You shoved everything under your bed?"

"You weren't supposed to find out about that," Finn muttered, frowning slightly at his stepbrother. Why did he have to be such a party pooper?

"You didn't exactly hide it well," Kurt retorted, walking over towards his bags.

As he started to move them across the room, Finn said, "At least it's out of your sight for now."

Kurt just gave him a look that dared him to leave his stuff littered around the room the next time he came home. Finn decided not to try it, for fear of the consequences.

Walking back upstairs, Kurt said, "I'm going to get some milk. You want some?"

Finn pulled a face. "Milk? Aren't we a little too old for that?"

Kurt huffed. "Milk is great for your health, I'll have you know. It's also delicious, and it helps you sleep."

"Sleep? It's nowhere near bedtime!" Finn exclaimed, wondering what Dalton had done to Kurt in only two weeks.

Kurt waved his argument away. "I didn't say it makes you sleepy, Finn." With that, he was out of the door.

Not feeling like doing any homework, Finn just sagged down on his bed, prodding the stuff he had shoved underneath with his foot. It wasn't all that bad, right? At least the floor was visible now – for the first time since he and his mother had moved in.

When Kurt came back, carefully walking down the stairs, he carried two glasses of milk with him. "Just try it, Finn. It's not going to hurt you."

Still, he placed one of the glasses on Finn's nightstand instead of just giving it to him. Finn eyed the glass wearily – he really didn't want to fall asleep so early. "Why did you tell Rachel that everyone already knew about me and Santana?" he blurted out all of a sudden. Sure, there had been some time to talk after Sectionals the week before, but much more than a mutual congratulations hadn't been exchanged between the two clubs (mostly Kurt and New Directions, though – the other Warblers had seemed both distracted by the girls and intimidated by Puck (and the other guys, too)).

Kurt stared at him for a moment. "Are you seriously so upset about that?" he asked, sounding incredulous. "I thought you'd already told her – you know, honesty is very important in a relationship, from what I hear."

"It didn't concern her," Finn muttered in reply. "It happened before I started dating her."

"It's still something you lied to her about," Kurt said. "From what I heard, she told you the truth about what happened between her and Jesse, and you still didn't say anything."

"It doesn't matter," Finn told him, eager to talk about something else. "She cheated on me. With Puck. I broke up with her."

"She cheated on you with _Puck_?" Finn didn't think he'd ever seen Kurt's eyebrows go any higher. "What is it about that boy that makes girls forget that they've already got a boyfriend?"

"Don't ask me," Finn said. "You're the one who likes guys, remember?" He was positive Kurt glared at him for that comment, but luckily, he was too busy drinking his milk to retort.

"Are you sure breaking up with Rachel was a good idea, though?" Kurt asked after a minute. "I mean, yeah, she cheated on you, but you love each other – don't you think you can work through it?"

Now it was Finn's turn to glare at Kurt – or attempt to, at least. "If she really loved me, she wouldn't have cheated on me," he responded. "You don't know what it's like… what it feels like."

"What if it was just a lapse of judgement?" Kurt asked. "Look, Finn – I'm not trying to defend Rachel here, but… it's obviously hard for you too."

Finn shook his head resolutely. "No. No, I – I can't just forgive her for doing that, you know? I can't even describe how I feel right now – not that I would, because guys don't talk about feelings anyway. It's just awful."

Kurt nodded as if understanding completely, though Finn wondered if he ever could. "Drink some milk before it gets cold," his stepbrother almost ordered him. "It might help you feel better. It does for me, anyway."

Frowning, Finn eyed him for a moment. "Uh – what?" he asked in the end. "Wasn't there supposed to be some… anti-bullying thing at Dalton?"

Kurt's eyes widened immediately. "No, that's not what I meant. Everyone's really nice at Dalton, it just takes me some time to fit in. It's hard, but… it's okay. And it's safe."

"So everything's good?" Finn asked, trying to sound stern but probably failing.

With a shrug, Kurt said, "Yeah, it is. But – did I tell you I got a real warbler during my first meeting?"

"You mean a real bird?" Finn asked, confused. What kind of Glee club gave their members pets?

"Yeah, a real bird," Kurt confirmed with a wry smile. "His name is Pavarotti. I left him at school for now, though – I doubt he'd like a two hour car ride, and Blaine volunteered to look after him anyway." After taking another sip of his milk, Kurt continued telling Finn about the bird. "Last week, everything was fine, but then, he didn't sing anymore, he didn't hop around in his cage, he barely seemed to eat… so I thought he was dying, you know? But according to Blaine, he was only _moulting_." Kurt rolled his eyes, probably out of annoyance with himself.

"Moulting?" Finn asked, uncertainly.

"Growing a new coat of feathers," Kurt explained as he placed his glass, which was now empty, on his nightstand. Finn eyed him for a few seconds, almost expecting him to fall asleep on the spot, before deciding that maybe, the milk was safe to drink. Tentatively, he reached over towards his own glass and slowly sipped it. "I felt so stupid."

"Would've happened to me too," Finn told him in an attempt to console him. "I bet no one's going to be mean about that to you."

Kurt smiled a bit at that. "I certainly hope so," he said, still sounding a little worried. "So – you like the milk?"

Finn narrowed his eyes at him, not sure if Kurt was merely interested in his answer or if there was more to it. In the end, he said, "It's alright."

It was as if Kurt knew about his internal struggle to come up with a good answer, for he rolled his eyes again, but now at Finn. "Just drink it, Finn, and give me your glass. I think dad wants to interrogate me a little more about Dalton anyway." He sighed, exasperated – but Finn was almost sure that he was secretly at least a little glad that his father was a bit worried… even if it was bad for his heart, like Kurt so often stressed.

"Good luck," he told his stepbrother with a goofy grin as he handed his glass over. He wasn't going upstairs now, that was for sure. Fortunately, he had his video games down here. It was up to Kurt to face his father on his own.

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**A/N**: So... yeah. What do you think? Let me know, please review!


	8. Prom Queen

**A/N**: I'm so sorry for the long wait! I don't even have a clue why it took me so long to write something again, but here's the next chapter :) It takes place during (or actually, not so long after) 'Prom Queen' so if you haven't seen the episode, you might want to refrain from reading this (chapter, and the rest of this note... - the next chapter goes back in time again so that might be safe :) ) just yet. But, I loved the episode :) The Karofsky scenes were quite impressive (although I'm secretly glad that he ran off in the end because I didn't like the prospect of him dancing with Kurt while we hadn't even seen Kurt dance with Blaine, but hey... maybe that's just me :P), I didn't remember Jesse being such an idiot, and I liked the way they handled Kurt's reaction in the last seven to eight minutes :)  
Sooo... there's no warm milk in this, and it involves Blaine as well (since in my head, Burt would've been alright with him staying for the night as long as it wasn't in Kurt's bed(room) :P)... but it was inspired by my musings about what would've happened in that gym if Finn hadn't been thrown out. I think he might have attacked someone after all (or maybe that's just my wishful thinking...)  
Hopefully you'll enjoy the chapter, and please leave a review at the bottom :)

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"Finn?" Kurt looked confused when Finn opened the front door. "You're still up? Where's dad? Or Carole?"

"They went to bed already," Finn replied, shrugging. "I told them I'd wait for you guys. I think they kind of got tired from telling me off for starting a fight at prom."

"Yeah, that might not have been your brightest moment ever," Kurt agreed, though he was smiling softly at his stepbrother. "Come on, step aside. Let us in."

"You know, I didn't even notice that there was a fight going on in the first place," Blaine commented as he followed Kurt inside the house, while Finn closed the door. "Let alone the two of you getting thrown out."

Kurt sent his boyfriend such an affectionate smile that Finn almost felt like he was intruding – in his own house. "But you're just incredibly oblivious," Kurt told Blaine. "Plus, you were singing and singlehandedly molesting that microphone, so nobody blames you for not noticing." Turning towards Finn, he asked, "What happened after coach Sylvester threw you out, by the way? Did you and Jesse make amends?"

Finn snorted. What a ridiculous idea. "No," he responded. "He basically stormed towards his car and drove off. And so did I."

"So now Quinn didn't have a ride home?" Kurt asked him in a voice that clearly indicated that he could not _believe_ that Finn had done such a thing.

Finn, however, just smiled. "She texted me about half an hour ago, telling me that Sam would give her a ride home. You know, when he was dropping off Mercedes and Rachel anyway." Then, he frowned. "She didn't say anything about being Prom Queen though. I would've expected her to immediately let me know when she got the crown, but…"

Kurt and Blaine, who had, by now, sat down on the couch, exchanged swift, slightly panicking looks. Finn was used to the fact that they looked at each other a little more than was strictly necessary, but why were they panicking?

"What's wrong?" he asked suspiciously, narrowing his eyes at his stepbrother.

"Nothing," Kurt hastily replied; even Finn knew that _that_ was a lie.

"Just thinking about what the other guys will say when I tell them that Jesse St James was kicked out of college," Blaine responded immediately after Kurt. While Finn thought that was pretty damn funny as well, he didn't understand why they would have to panic about that.

"You look nervous," he told Kurt bluntly, causing the other boy's eyes to widen comically, while his face seemed to heat up. Finn smiled smugly to himself. "Wait – " he added, realisation suddenly dawning on him. "You're going to – you want to – you were planning to – " When both Kurt and Blaine seemed sufficiently confused, he said, "No way. You know that Burt will _kill_ you if you do… that. And he told you," he said to Blaine, "to sleep on the couch. So – "

"Finn!" Kurt exclaimed loudly – Finn wouldn't be surprised if his mum and Burt had woken up now – "That's not – we were _not_ going to do anything like that!"

"Then what was up with that look?" Finn asked him.

"What look?" Again, the two boys sitting on the couch exchanged glances. Now, however, they just looked confused.

"The one when I mentioned that thing about Quinn not letting me know if she'd become Prom Queen or not." Now Kurt looked almost _guilty_.

"She didn't become Prom Queen," Blaine promptly told him. To Kurt, he muttered, "He'll find out anyway sooner or later."

Finn wasn't sure if he was supposed to have heard that, but it made him all the more curious. "Find out what?"

"Who _did_ become Prom King and Queen," Blaine responded. It was as if Kurt had gone mute all of a sudden.

"So who did?" Finn honestly didn't see the harm in him finding out who had won in the end. Like Blaine said, he would find out at some point, whether from Quinn or from Puck or anyone else.

"Well…," Blaine started, almost pleading Kurt to take over with his eyes.

Kurt sighed. "Fine. Karofsky got Prom King."

"Karofsky?" Finn repeated. "Huh. Didn't see that coming. Bet he was very happy, right?"

"No, actually," Kurt answered, frowning slightly. "He – well, at first he just sat there, on his throne, I think. When it was time for the dance, he ran off."

"And didn't come back," Blaine added for good measure.

"Does Karofsky being Prom King mean that Santana was Prom Queen?" Finn asked. Quinn wouldn't have liked that at all.

"Not… exactly," Blaine replied, looking at Kurt concernedly.

Then, suddenly, Kurt lifted his head again and stared at Finn defiantly. "I was," he announced, and for a moment, Finn was confused.

"You were what?" he asked, blinking. "Wait – you mean you were the Prom Queen? But – you're not a girl!"

"Thanks, Finn, I hadn't noticed," Kurt said with a huff. "Apparently, _some_ people thought it would be funny to vote for me as a way of showing that they still don't like me. Now that they can't shove me around anymore, or call me names, that's what they've resorted to."

"Are guys even _allowed_ to become Prom Queen?" Finn asked. He didn't think he'd heard a story like this before.

"It's not like I _asked_ all those people to vote for me," Kurt retorted scathingly.

"You weren't even a contestant!" Finn exclaimed, starting to feel angry at his classmates. "Are you telling me all those people just wrote your name down on the ballot?"

"Apparently, yes," Kurt responded.

"Those bastards," Finn almost growled. "Who do they think they are? Do they think that's _funny_? I'm going to – "

"Finn," Kurt interrupted him before he could finish. "Leave it. It's already been dealt with. Plus, you'll wake my dad if you speak any louder."

"You have to tell him about this," Finn decided within a few seconds. "Seriously, if he finds out about – "

"I will," Kurt interrupted him again. "But not now. Not tonight. I don't even want to imagine how he'll react to this." At this point, Blaine took Kurt's hand and squeezed it lightly, making Kurt relax just a little bit.

Suddenly, Finn remembered something. "Wait – you said Karofsky ran out when it was time to dance. You actually accepted that crown?"

"If I hadn't accepted it, I would've let them win," Kurt said matter-of-factly. "Now I showed them that nothing they do will change me, or harm me, or bring me down. They can't touch me. Touch _us_," he added in an afterthought, glancing at Blaine, who was smiling proudly at him.

That made sense, and Finn couldn't help but be (a little) proud of Kurt as well. He did become slightly alarmed, though, when Kurt muttered, "Maybe next year, I'll see if I can become Prom King. I'd probably be the first person ever to have become both Prom King and Queen."

"Kind of like how you're the only person at McKinley who's both been at the football team _and_ the cheerleading squad," Finn said with a grin, quickly shrugging off his discomfort. The surprised look on Blaine's face told him that there were still some things Kurt hadn't told his boyfriend yet, which surprised Finn.

"I'm not the _only_ person," Kurt protested. "Mercedes too."

"Why have neither of you ever mentioned anything about that?" Blaine asked curiously. "I mean, I know Mercedes was on the football team, I saw her play after all, but – the cheerleading squad? With Sue Sylvester as a coach? Why didn't you mention that when we found out she started coaching Aural Intensity? And I thought you hated football…"

"Let's talk about that some other time," Kurt decided. "So anyway, Finn, I doubt a lot of people still think that what they did was funny, so don't go ballistic on the entire school when you see them, will you?"

Seeing as that was fairly impossible anyway, Finn shrugged. "Maybe," he replied. He didn't want to entirely lose the opportunity to beat someone up. Then he yawned. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm going to bed. Kurt – you're coming upstairs as well, right?"

Kurt rolled his eyes. "I'll help Blaine make the couch first, I'll be there in a minute. Don't worry," he added, seeing the look Finn shot them, "I will."

"You'd better," Finn muttered, glancing at the two boys on the couch. He would check on them later. If he hadn't fallen asleep by then and wouldn't wake up anymore. "Hey – if Karofsky stormed out, who did you dance with?"

Kurt nudged Blaine softly, which was a clear enough answer for Finn. "Cool, dude," he said appreciatively, before bounding up the stairs as quietly as he could, so he wouldn't have to hear Kurt tell him off for calling him 'dude' again.

A few minutes later, there was a knock on his bedroom door. "Finn?" Kurt's voice drifted into the room. "Just so you know, I'm going to bed now."

"Good," Finn grunted; prior to the knock, he'd managed to somehow fall asleep already, even though he hadn't even changed into his pyjamas yet. A minute later, he slowly walked through the hallway and down the stairs and peered into the living room that was completely dark now. There was definitely a figure lying on the couch, which was quite a relief for Finn. He honestly hadn't wanted to go to Kurt's room next and witness something potentially scarring.

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**A/N**: So, what about it? Did you like it, hate it, anything else? If you have any comments/questions/thoughts/ideas about the chapter/story, please review! :)


	9. Blame it on the alcohol II

**A/N**: Quick update (sort of)? Well, I technically had this chapter ready before the last one, so... yeah. I know there are a bunch of fics out there like this chapter, but I hope it's still sort of enjoyable :)

And 'Funeral'? Loved the Furt moment(s), but I felt really bad for Sue. And Becky. And Finn. And... probably some others as well. I'm just curious to find out for how long Sue will be able to not try to bring down the Glee club. Time will tell, I suppose )

Anyway, hopefully you'll like this chapter, and please leave a review afterwards! :)

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"Finn?"

When his stepbrother didn't answer, Kurt nudged Finn's bedroom door open with his shoulder. There was no one in the room, which probably meant that Finn was trying to find himself some snacks. Shaking his head at how unhealthy some people (a.k.a. the New Directions guys) lived, Kurt carefully placed the two glasses of milk he was carrying at Finn's desk.

Finn had probably expected to be back soon, as he had left his laptop, and his browser, opened. What Kurt saw on there scarred him for life – or at least for the remainder of the night.

No – it _would_ probably keep haunting him forever.

Since when did Finn even _watch_ porn? It seemed that Kurt had seriously underestimated his stepbrother's… well, what exactly? His needs? His wants? His… sexual frustration?

Not something Kurt wanted to think about in combination with the scene right in front of him.

But – wait a minute… maybe Finn had gotten here accidentally. One glance at the playtime told Kurt that that was highly unlikely. Trying to keep his eyes away from the gross picture on the desktop, Kurt sat down behind the laptop.

Perhaps Puckerman had sent Finn a link, telling him he had to watch this, and Finn, suspecting nothing, had clicked it and…

That still didn't explain why he had already watched two-thirds of it.

Tentatively, Kurt peeked at the screen and hastily opened another window. He clicked the browser history, not entirely sure if he _wanted_ to see it. Then again – if this was a once-but-never-before thing, he could easily (try to) forget about this. If it wasn't… well, he'd have to think about that.

As he scanned over the browser history, Kurt quickly concluded that he'd better start thinking about the consequences (for Finn, of course) – this _definitely_ wasn't the first time Finn had watched… a movie like this. Kurt shuddered, inwardly and outwardly.

Still – this might come in handy one day. He quickly print screened the page and attached that to an e-mail to himself. After logging off – he didn't want to imagine what Finn would do once he found out that Kurt's e-mailbox was opened on his laptop – he was, once more, faced with the horrifying images that Finn had been watching minutes earlier.

He was almost relieved that Finn chose that moment to return to his room. He almost ran into the room, clutching a bag of Doritos to his chest (Kurt pulled a disgusted face at that – because seriously, not only were Doritos ridiculously unhealthy, but Finn could actually _eat_ while watching _this_? Scratch that - what straight teenage guy ate while watching porn?). The moment he spotted Kurt, however, he froze.

"Kurt!" He exclaimed after a few seconds. "What brings you here?"

Rolling his eyes, Kurt nodded at the two glasses on Finn's desk. "I came to bring you your milk. You know, like I've done for several months now?"

Finn nodded, still not appearing quite at ease – as he should, Kurt thought with some satisfaction. "And… what are you looking at?" Finn asked cautiously.

"I'm looking at what you were looking at," Kurt replied, smirking inwardly at how confusing that might sound for Finn. "Honestly, Finn – porn?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Finn quickly denied the accusation.

"Don't act like that, Finn," Kurt told him. "We both know what's going on here."

"I'm a healthy teenage boy, of course I watch porn," Finn whispered loudly. "I mean," he added as Kurt just kept staring him down, "a _straight_ teenage boy. That's what I meant. Not that it's wrong that you're not – "

"Finn," Kurt interrupted him, smiling a little. "You're getting off-topic here. What we're dealing with here is me catching you with porn and – "

"So you were watching it too!" Finn said victoriously. "_And_ you were snooping around!"

"Something I'm sure our parents will be willing to forgive me for when – "

"_Please_ don't tell my mum," Finn pleaded, interrupting him. "Please, Kurt – surely _you_ – "

"Don't finish that question," Kurt warned him. "I will neither confirm nor deny that. The point is – I've got _proof_."

Before Finn could retaliate in whatever way possible, his phone rang. Swiftly throwing the Doritos on his bed, he picked up.

"Dude, what's wrong?" he almost shouted down the phone, causing Kurt to raise his eyebrows in interest. "Yes, I – no, what? Rachel's throwing a party? But why?"

Rachel was throwing a party? Kurt felt almost offended that he hadn't received an invitation yet.

"A New Directions party?" Finn then asked, and the reason for Kurt not being invited suddenly became clear. "Yeah, I – when? This Saturday?"

Kurt thought for a moment. Saturday? He was fairly sure he was going to the movies with Blaine on Saturday, but they could probably do that on Friday as well – or maybe a week later.

He really missed his old Glee club, and if they were having a party, Kurt was going to, even if he had to invite himself. _Maybe_ he could even bring Blaine along. He'd be spending time with his McKinley friends, and his best friend at Dalton. That was certainly something he couldn't miss out on. It had to be the best combination _ever_.

He would need some help from inside, though, not even Kurt was self-confident enough to think he could pull this off all by himself. Mercedes would probably help, he figured.

"Yeah, I'll be there," Finn ended his phone conversation with whomever had called (Kurt suspected Puck, but he wasn't sure).

Finn.

Kurt smirked, not bothering to hide it this time. "Got a party coming up?" he asked innocently, reaching for his milk before it cooled down. He even handed Finn his glass. More eagerly than Kurt was sure he would ever dare to admit to his friends, Finn gulped the milk down.

"Yes, I do," he then replied, seeming disappointed that there was no more milk left. "Rachel's throwing one for – never mind. She wants to throw a party; apparently, her dads are out of town."

Kurt hummed softly. "I never expected Rachel to be so rebellious as to throw a party for a bunch of teenagers when her dads aren't home," he mused out loud. "Hey, Finn – you don't think that they would mind if I tagged along, right?"

Finn looked doubtful. "I don't know, dude – it _is_ a New Directions party… and seeing as you go to Dalton now…"

"Will you help me sneak in?" Kurt asked. "And, I don't know, perhaps Blaine as well?"

Now Finn shook his head resolutely. "No way, absolutely not. You coming is one thing, but Blaine?"

Kurt huffed. "You know Blaine, Finn, as do most of them. Nobody will mind one bit if we're there."

"I'm not helping you," Finn told him. "Under no circumstances – "

"I already sent a picture of your browser history to myself," Kurt interrupted him, narrowing his eyes at Finn. "I could easily show your mum – "

"That's not cool, dude," Finn moaned, falling back onto his bed. "That is… cruel. You're _blackmailing_ me!"

"Sure am, Finn," Kurt said, raising his eyebrows in expectation (though secretly proud that Finn knew that word). "So, what do you say? Will you let Blaine and me tag along with you to Rachel's party, making everyone happy, or do I have to show your mum what you've been doing on the internet lately, making everybody unhappy?"

Finn scowled at him. "That's a low blow, Kurt," he said flatly. "Seriously. Not cool."

"You already said that," Kurt responded, feeling a little bored. "Anyway," he continued, standing up, "I'm going to go back to go back to my room now, and I want to know your decision before ten, okay? That way I can make plans with Blaine tomorrow, and – "

"Fine," Finn muttered with a scowl. "I'll take you. But don't blame me if you're not welcomed with open arms."

"I think I'll take that chance," Kurt said, shrugging.

"And you're deleting that picture from your e-mail," Finn demanded, but Kurt shook his head.

"Not yet, Finn. Maybe after the party. Who knows how quickly you'll change your mind about letting us tag along with you if I erase that picture right now." With that, Kurt stood up and walked out of the room. In the doorway, he turned around one final time. "Oh, and Finn – do me a favour, will you? Delete all that porn – it'll only attract a bunch of spam and viruses and I'm sure you won't be happy when that happens."

Finn blinked at this. "It does?" he asked. "Well – fine then. I'll ask Puck about it first, though…"

"What a reliable source," Kurt muttered to himself.

"_Goodnight_, Kurt," Finn shouted, sounding more than a little bit annoyed now, as Kurt had to contain himself from skipping down the hallway to his own room. He was going to a New Directions party, and Blaine was coming too – at least, Kurt expected him to, and what else could Blaine be doing on a Saturday night anyway, especially when they'd already made plans?

It was going to be the _best_ party ever.

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**A/N**: Re-reading this, something seems off here - but I'm not sure what. But, what did you think? Please let me know, and leave a review! :D


	10. Born this way

**A/N**: So... I'm sorry for taking so long to update. I guess I just wasn't in the right mood?

*(sort of) important notice!* Also - I've decided that this fic might not become much longer, as I don't want it to seem like the only times Kurt and Finn talk is over a glass of milk at night, or as if they talk about every little thing that happens at McKinley (Kurt probably has the girls for that), or as if all they do is have these lady chats. I'm sorry about that, but that's just how it is. I'm not sure if I'll ever _really_ finish this story (who knows, there may just be some awesome opportunities for new chapters in season 3, or I'm suddenly inspired by something from season 2), but I probably won't update this very soon. Still, I didn't want to unexpectedly set this as 'completed' or post just this notice as a new chapter (I personally hate it when that happens, no offence), so I had to wait until I wrote a new chapter :)

Anyway, hopefully you'll enjoy this chapter, and please leave a review at the bottom! :D

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Humming to himself, Kurt searched through his closet, looking for the perfect outfit to wear the next day – his second day back at McKinley. A couple of months ago, he wouldn't have thought that day would ever come, but here he was. Fresh out of Dalton, back to the school that had once been his own personal hell. From a school where he'd never been tortured, bullied, or even looked at the wrong way, and where he'd been more academically challenged than he'd ever thought possible, he'd gone back to the complete opposite: McKinley was about as far from a sanctuary for any teenager as any school could get. Plus, Kurt was sure that after just a couple of months at Dalton, he would barely have to study for his tests at McKinley until far into his senior year.

But he wouldn't have it any other way. The Warblers had become true friends to him, but New Directions was still his family. And while the Dalton Academy uniform certainly didn't look _that_ bad (on Blaine, for instance), Kurt had missed being able to dress like himself for five days a week.

Noticing a huge figure hulking just outside his bedroom, he smiled.

"You know you can just knock on the door, Finn," he called out, and the figure moved away slightly before opening the door (which had previously been only slightly ajar) further.

"How'd you know it was me?" Finn asked, blinking. He was balancing two mugs in his hands and placed them on Kurt's desk right after stepping into the room.

Kurt chuckled. "I don't know anyone else who's as tall as you are," he reminded his stepbrother, before moving over to take a better look at the mugs.

Warm milk.

He should've known.

But still – Finn never brought _him_ warm milk unless he wanted to talk about something.

"What's wrong?" he therefore asked, a little concerned.

Finn shrugged, standing awkwardly in the middle of the room. "Why didn't anyone tell me you were transferring today?" he blurted out.

Oh. Right.

Now it was Kurt's turn to shrug. "I didn't want the news to get out before I got there," he replied sheepishly.

"Mercedes knew."

"That wasn't the plan," Kurt tried to assure Finn. "I accidentally let it slip last night on the phone. She did keep it a secret, though. Nobody else knew."

"But I'm your stepbrother," Finn objected. "I would've kept it a secret too, you know. Now you knew, and my mum, and your dad, and I was the only one in this house who didn't know."

"You knew I was coming back though, right?" Kurt asked. He wasn't sure if Finn really would've managed to keep his transfer a secret, but he appreciated the sentiment anyway.

Finn nodded. "Yeah, you made that clear. But I didn't know you'd be back so soon! The guys and I didn't even have the chance to form a protection unit around you to keep you safe!"

"That's what the bully whips are for, remember?"

Finn rolled his eyes – a habit he must've picked up from Kurt, because it definitely wasn't something Finn normally did – and said, "Yeah, well, none of us really trusts Karofsky, least of all your dad." He glanced at Kurt carefully. "He – uh… he told me to keep an eye on you. And I will. And so will the other guys in Glee, and I'm sure the girls will as well. We're not going to let anyone harm you in any way. Not this time."

Kurt smiled. "Thanks," he said quietly. He didn't trust himself to say more about the subject, fearing that he might just start crying. Who knew how Finn would react to that. "That's… really sweet," he added in the end.

Already, Finn looked a bit awkward. Gesturing for him to sit down somewhere, Kurt took the mugs off of his desk again and handed one to Finn once he was seated.

"Did you make this?" he asked a little suspiciously, glancing at the milk.

Finn shook his head. "No, mum did," he responded. He seemed to shrink a couple of inches before adding, "She always does when you're not here to bring me some milk. And now you were busy, so I asked her if she could do it now as well."

Smiling slightly, Kurt finally sipped his milk, and was surprised to realise that Carole's milk wasn't even half bad. Alright, maybe that was a little mean. Obviously, Carole must've been preparing milk for a longer time than Kurt had, so it was only natural that hers was good as well.

"I'll try to remember it tomorrow," he promised. Truth was, he hadn't thought that Finn was very fond of this new tradition of drinking milk together every night, and would take Kurt's transfer back as the perfect opportunity to put a stop to said tradition. It appeared that he couldn't have been more wrong.

"And the Warblers knew," Finn suddenly commented. Kurt looked up to see his stepbrother stare at him. "When did you tell them?" Finn frowned. "Is that why you weren't here last night?"

"It is," Kurt admitted. "Of course they knew, Finn. I had to tell them I was leaving. Very soon. Last night was the only option. I couldn't just not show up anymore." There had been an impromptu goodbye party in the Warblers' meeting room; a sleepover with lots of food that Kurt normally wouldn't touch with a six-foot-long pole, a couple of movies, some songs and too many stories of all kinds.

And a heart-to-heart between Kurt and the guy who'd delivered the pizzas – but that wasn't something he was about to tell Finn. He'd already told Blaine about Sam's family's current troubles, but Sam had made him promise not to let anyone at McKinley know.

"I wonder when they had the time to rehearse that song they sang to you," Finn said with a frown. "They didn't dance much, but they didn't have more than an hour to practise, right?"

Kurt was staring ahead with a silly smile on his face. Right, the performance. He, Kurt Hummel, had been serenaded in a public setting today, by his incredibly sweet and dapper boyfriend. Who was so out and proud that he didn't mind going to a school that was possibly the most conservative and gay-hating one in the state, just to see him off.

"I think it's something they'd been working on for a longer time," he replied in the end. After all, Blaine had noticed the week before, during the benefit, that he missed McKinley so very much. Perhaps he'd started preparing the song already, and called in all the other Warblers' help as well. Who knew. They'd all been sad to see him go, but they'd understood – fortunately.

Finn looked at him confusedly for a moment before shrugging it off. "Anyway, it's awesome that you're back, dude. Now we're really going to kick ass at Nationals!" he said excitedly.

Kurt grinned, choosing to ignore Finn's awful way of addressing him for now. Before he could say anything, Finn was shuffling around in his seat, and he stood up again, his mug empty.

Before he left, he turned towards Kurt once more and told him sternly, "And if someone gives you any trouble, tell me, okay? We'll help you out."

"I will," Kurt promised. "Thanks, Finn."

* * *

**A/N**: So, what do you think? This was mostly inspired by the fact that Finn does look slightly surprised when Kurt shows up at McKinley all of a sudden in the courtyard. And here, Kurt pretty much transfers back in the middle of the week. Not sure how it's done in the episode... I hope you liked it! :) Please leave me a review! :D


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